Karakil / Nilgiri White Ironwood
Vepris bilocularis
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
- Flowering
- February-May
How to identify Karakil
Identify Karakil by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Confirm leaf type: Palmately compound.
- Confirm fruit type: Small berry.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: February-May.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
- Confirm it sits within the Rutaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Karakil.
Plant Details
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Palmately compoundrecordedLeaflets radiate outward from a single point, like fingers on a hand.“It is an evergreen tree, with grey-brown, lenticellate bark and digitately trifoliolate leaves.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Karakil itself; the rest are typical of the Rutaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit type
- Small berryrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Karakil itself; the rest are typical of the Rutaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Malayalam
- Karakil, Moothassari, മൂത്താശ്ശാരി
About Karakil
Nilgiri White Ironwood (Vepris bilocularis) is a tree in the Rutaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It grows in evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from February to May.
Rutaceae
Citrus/Rue family
Karakil belongs to the Rutaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Rutaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Karakil or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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